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102-636: The shrapnel shell was invented by Henry Shrapnel of the British Army in about 1780 to increase the effectiveness of canister shot . It was used in the later Napoleonic wars and stayed in use until superseded in Artillery of World War I . Modern shells, though sometimes called "shrapnel shells", actually produce fragments and splinters , not shrapnel. Air bursts were used in the First World War to shower enemy positions and men with shrapnel balls to kill

204-491: A grenade into the air, which detonates at waist level, increasing the blast radius and harm inflicted by detonation, shock wave, and flying splinters. A relatively recent example of airburst munitions is the VOG-25P "jumping" 40 mm (1.6 in) caseless grenade, which contains a secondary charge to launch it up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) above its point of impact before the main charge detonates. Another recent development

306-475: A nomenclature formalised in 1852 by the British Government. Initial designs suffered from the potentially-catastrophic problem that friction between the shot and black powder during the high acceleration down the gun bore could sometimes cause premature ignition of the powder. Various solutions were tried with limited, if any, success. However, in 1852, Colonel Boxer proposed using a diaphragm to separate

408-744: A sidearm or ancillary weapons . Infantry with ranged or polearms often carried a sword or dagger for possible hand-to-hand combat. The pilum was a javelin the Roman legionaries threw just before drawing their primary weapon, the gladius (short sword), and closing with the enemy line. Modern infantrymen now treat the bayonet as a backup weapon, but may also have handguns as sidearms . They may also deploy anti-personnel mines, booby traps, incendiary, or explosive devices defensively before combat. Infantry have employed many different methods of protection from enemy attacks, including various kinds of armour and other gear, and tactical procedures. The most basic

510-722: A thermite compound. When World War I began the United States also had what it referred to as the "Ehrhardt high-explosive shrapnel" in its inventory. It appears to be similar to the German design, with bullets embedded in TNT rather than resin, together with a quantity of explosive in the shell nose. Douglas Hamilton mentions this shell type in passing, as "not as common as other types" in his comprehensive treatises on manufacturing shrapnel and high-explosive shells of 1915 and 1916, but gives no manufacturing details. Nor does Ethan Viall in 1917. Hence

612-487: A defensive barrage during the Third Battle of Ypres , 1917: ... the air is full of yellow spurts of smoke that burst about 30 feet up and shoot towards the earth – just ahead of each of these yellow puffs the earth rises in a lashed-up cloud – shrapnel – and how beautifully placed – long sweeps of it fly along that slope lashing up a good 200 yards of earth at each burst. During the initial stages of World War I , shrapnel

714-406: A dye marker contained in the base and a tracer element. The shell functioned as follows: the time fuse fired, the flash traveled down the flash tube, the shearing detonators fired, and the forward body split into four pieces. The body and first four tiers were dispersed by the projectile's spin, the last tier and visual marker by the powder charge itself. The flechettes spread, mainly due to spin, from

816-610: A few exceptions like the Mongol Empire , infantry has been the largest component of most armies in history. In the Western world , from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages ( c. 8th century BC to 15th century AD), infantry are categorised as either heavy infantry or light infantry . Heavy infantry, such as Greek hoplites , Macedonian phalangites , and Roman legionaries , specialised in dense, solid formations driving into

918-512: A full suit of attack-proof armour would be too heavy to wear in combat. As firearms improved, armour for ranged defence had to be made thicker and heavier, which hindered mobility. With the introduction of the heavy arquebus designed to pierce standard steel armour, it was proven easier to make heavier firearms than heavier armour; armour transitioned to be only for close combat purposes. Pikemen armour tended to be just steel helmets and breastplates, and gunners had very little or no armour at all. By

1020-402: A high percentage of shrapnel shells. New tactical roles included cutting barbed wire and providing "creeping barrages" to both screen its own attacking troops and suppressing the enemy defenders to prevent them from shooting at their attackers. In a creeping barrage fire was 'lifted' from one 'line' to the next as the attackers advanced. These lines were typically 100 yards (91 m) apart and

1122-417: A hundred meters wide and a dozen rows deep. Maintaining the advantages of heavy infantry meant maintaining formation; this became even more important when two forces with heavy infantry met in battle; the solidity of the formation became the deciding factor. Intense discipline and training became paramount. Empires formed around their military. The organization of military forces into regular military units

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1224-405: A lethal (at very close range) blast overpressure and, if a surface or sub-surface burst, a useful cratering and anti-materiel effect – all in a munition much less complex than the later versions of the shrapnel shell. However, this fragmentation was often lost when shells penetrated soft ground, and because some fragments went in all directions it was a hazard to assaulting troops. One item of note

1326-435: A mechanical time–super quick (MTSQ) artillery fuze set to cause an airburst over a target in very close proximity to the firing gun's position. Set properly, the shell would detonate approximately 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground at ranges of 200 to 1,000 m (660 to 3,280 ft). The term Killer Junior was applied to this technique when used with 105 mm (4.1 in) or 155 mm (6.1 in) howitzers, and

1428-399: A problem. This can be avoided by having shield-armed soldiers stand close together, side-by-side, each protecting both themselves and their immediate comrades, presenting a solid shield wall to the enemy. The opponents for these first formations, the close-combat infantry of more tribal societies , or any military without regular infantry (so called " barbarians ") used arms that focused on

1530-440: A return to body armour for infantry, though the extra weight is a notable burden. In modern times, infantrymen must also often carry protective measures against chemical and biological attack, including military gas masks , counter-agents, and protective suits. All of these protective measures add to the weight an infantryman must carry, and may decrease combat efficiency. Early crew-served weapons were siege weapons , like

1632-416: A single half-inch lead- antimony ball of approximately 170 grains (11 g), or 41–42 balls = 1 pound. Hence this was a typical field gun shrapnel bullet size. The maximum possible range, typically beyond 7,000 yards (6,400 m), was beyond useful shrapnel combat ranges for normal field guns due to loss of accuracy and the fact that at extreme range the projectiles descended relatively steeply and hence

1734-470: A target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almost entirely on the shell's velocity for their lethality. The munition has been obsolete since the end of World War I for anti-personnel use; high-explosive shells superseded it for that role. The functioning and principles behind shrapnel shells are fundamentally different from high-explosive shell fragmentation . Shrapnel

1836-463: Is personal armour . This includes shields , helmets and many types of armour – padded linen , leather, lamellar , mail , plate , and kevlar . Initially, armour was used to defend both from ranged and close combat; even a fairly light shield could help defend against most slings and javelins, though high-strength bows and crossbows might penetrate common armour at very close range. Infantry armour had to compromise between protection and coverage, as

1938-468: Is a computer programmable air burst grenade with fire control system . Grenade launchers using this technology include the XM29 , XM307 , PAPOP , Mk 47 Striker , XM25 , Barrett XM109 , K11 , QTS-11 , Norinco LG5 / QLU-11 , and Multi Caliber Individual Weapon System . Orbital ATK developed air burst rounds for autocannons . The air burst is usually 100 to 1,000 m (330 to 3,280 ft) above

2040-419: Is a specialization of military personnel who engage in warfare combat . Infantry generally consists of light infantry , irregular infantry , heavy infantry , mountain infantry , motorized infantry , mechanized infantry , airborne infantry , air assault infantry , and naval infantry . Other types of infantry, such as line infantry and mounted infantry , were once commonplace but fell out of favor in

2142-735: Is first noted in Egyptian records of the Battle of Kadesh ( c.  1274 BC ). Soldiers were grouped into units of 50, which were in turn grouped into larger units of 250, then 1,000, and finally into units of up to 5,000 – the largest independent command. Several of these Egyptian "divisions" made up an army, but operated independently, both on the march and tactically, demonstrating sufficient military command and control organisation for basic battlefield manoeuvres. Similar hierarchical organizations have been noted in other ancient armies, typically with approximately 10 to 100 to 1,000 ratios (even where base 10

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2244-412: Is named after Lieutenant-General Henry Shrapnel , a Royal Artillery officer, whose experiments, initially conducted on his own time and at his own expense, culminated in the design and development of a new type of artillery shell . Usage of the term "shrapnel" has changed over time to also refer to fragmentation of the casing of shells and bombs, which is its most common modern usage and strays from

2346-451: Is said that the name beehive was given to the munition type due to the noise of the flechettes moving through the air resembling that of a swarm of bees. Though shrapnel rounds are now rarely used, apart from the beehive munitions, there are other modern rounds, that use, or have used, the shrapnel principle. The DM 111 20 mm cannon round used for close-range air defense, the flechette-filled 40 mm HVCC (40 x 53 mm HV grenade),

2448-497: Is similar in shape to the letter Y when viewed from the side (see sliced view). Airbursting also minimizes fallout by keeping the fireball from touching the ground, limiting the amount of debris that is vaporized and drawn up in the radioactive debris cloud. For the Hiroshima bomb , an air burst 550 to 610 m (1,800 to 2,000 ft) above the ground was chosen "to achieve maximum blast effects, and to minimize residual radiation on

2550-415: Is the "universal shell", a type of field gun shell developed by Krupp of Germany in the early 1900s. This shell could function as either a shrapnel shell or high-explosive projectile. The shell had a modified fuse, and, instead of resin as the packing between the shrapnel balls, TNT was used. When a timed fuse was set the shell functioned as a shrapnel round, ejecting the balls and igniting (not detonating)

2652-495: The Battle of the Somme was the perceived belief that shrapnel would be effective at cutting the barbed wire entanglements in no man's land (although it has been suggested that the reason for the use of shrapnel as a wire-cutter at the Somme was because Britain lacked the capacity to manufacture enough HE shell ). This perception was reinforced by the successful deployment of shrapnel shells against Germany's barbed wire entanglements in

2754-572: The Beehive flechette rounds previously used against nearby enemy troops. The advantage of the Killer techniques over Beehive is that the airburst projects fragments in all directions, and is able to wound enemies crawling or lying in defilade , whereas the flechettes of a Beehive round would simply fly harmlessly over a low target. Shrapnel shell Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions that carried many individual bullets close to

2856-463: The Royal Arsenal around 1852 and crossed over when cylindrical shells for rifled guns were introduced. Lieutenant-Colonel Boxer adapted his design in 1864 to produce shrapnel shells for the new rifled muzzle-loader ( RML ) guns: the walls were of thick cast iron , but the gunpowder charge was now in the shell base with a tube running through the centre of the shell to convey the ignition flash from

2958-1133: The Royal Dragoon Guards , Royal Lancers , and King's Royal Hussars . Similarly, motorised infantry have trucks and other unarmed vehicles for non-combat movement, but are still infantry since they leave their vehicles for any combat. Most modern infantry have vehicle transport, to the point where infantry being motorised is generally assumed, and the few exceptions might be identified as modern light infantry . Mechanised infantry go beyond motorised, having transport vehicles with combat abilities, armoured personnel carriers (APCs), providing at least some options for combat without leaving their vehicles. In modern infantry, some APCs have evolved to be infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), which are transport vehicles with more substantial combat abilities, approaching those of light tanks . Some well-equipped mechanised infantry can be designated as armoured infantry . Given that infantry forces typically also have some tanks, and given that most armoured forces have more mechanised infantry units than tank units in their organisation,

3060-442: The ballista , trebuchet , and battering ram . Modern versions include machine guns , anti-tank missiles , and infantry mortars . Beginning with the development the first regular military forces, close-combat regular infantry fought less as unorganised groups of individuals and more in coordinated units, maintaining a defined tactical formation during combat, for increased battlefield effectiveness; such infantry formations and

3162-401: The hypocenter to allow the shockwave of the fission or fusion driven explosion to bounce off the ground and back into itself, combining two wave fronts and creating a shockwave that is more forceful than the one resulting from a detonation at ground level. This " mach stem " only occurs near ground level, exists around the entire perimeter of the expanding wave front near ground level, and

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3264-404: The time fuse in the nose to the gunpowder charge in the base. The powder charge both shattered the cast iron shell wall and liberated the bullets. The broken shell wall continued mainly forward but had little destructive effect. The system had major limitations: the thickness of the iron shell walls limited the available carrying capacity for bullets but provided little destructive capability, and

3366-483: The "cone" of bullets covered a relatively small area. At a more typical combat range of 3,000 yards (2,700 m), giving a fairly flat trajectory and hence a long " beaten zone " for the bullets, a typical 3-inch or 75-mm field gun shrapnel shell would have a velocity of approximately 900 feet/second. The bursting charge would add a possible 150 feet/second, giving a bullet velocity of 1,050 feet/second. This would give each bullet approximately 418 foot-pounds: seven times

3468-469: The 1800s with the invention of more accurate and powerful weapons. In English, use of the term infantry began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French infanterie , from older Italian (also Spanish) infanteria (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin īnfāns (without speech, newborn, foolish), from which English also gets infant . The individual-soldier term infantryman

3570-414: The 1880s, bore little similarity to Henry Shrapnel's original design other than its spherical bullets and time fuse. It used a much thinner forged steel shell case with a timer fuse in the nose and a tube running through the centre to convey the ignition flash to a gunpowder bursting charge in the shell base. The use of steel allowed a thinner shell wall, allowing space for many more bullets. It also withstood

3672-472: The 1915 Battle of Neuve Chapelle , but the Germans thickened their barbed wire strands after that battle. As a result, shrapnel was later only effective in killing enemy personnel; even if the conditions were correct, with the angle of descent being flat to maximise the number of bullets going through the entanglements, the probability of a shrapnel ball hitting a thin line of barbed wire and successfully cutting it

3774-549: The 35 mm cannon (35 × 228 mm) AHEAD ammunition (152 × 3.3   g tungsten cylinders), RWM Schweiz 30 × 173 mm air-bursting munition, five-inch (127 mm) shotgun projectile (KE-ET) and possibly more. Also, many modern armies have canister shot ammunition for tank and artillery guns, the XM1028 round for the 120 mm M256 tank gun being one example (approx 1150 tungsten balls at 1,400 m/s). Some anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs) use shrapnel-like warheads instead of

3876-522: The American all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment (ALICE). Infantrymen are defined by their primary arms – the personal weapons and body armour for their own individual use. The available technology, resources, history, and society can produce quite different weapons for each military and era, but common infantry weapons can be distinguished in a few basic categories. Infantrymen often carry secondary or back-up weapons, sometimes called

3978-450: The RV's flight path. Unlike a blast-frag warhead, the expulsion charge is only needed to release the sub-projectiles from the main warhead, not to accelerate them to high velocity. The velocity required to penetrate the RV's casing comes from the high terminal velocity of the warhead, similar to the shrapnel shell's principle. The reason for the use of this type of warhead and not a blast-frag is that

4080-503: The Swiss, English, Aragonese and German, to men-at-arms who went into battle as well-armoured as knights, the latter of which at times also fought on foot. The creation of standing armies —permanently assembled for war or defence—saw increase in training and experience. The increased use of firearms and the need for drill to handle them efficiently. The introduction of national and mass armies saw an establishment of minimum requirements and

4182-488: The TNT, giving a visible puff of black smoke. When allowed to impact, the TNT filling would detonate, becoming a high-explosive shell with a very large amount of low-velocity fragmentation and a milder blast. Due to its complexity it was dropped in favour of a simple high-explosive shell. During World War I the UK also used shrapnel pattern shells to carry "pots" instead of "bullets". These were incendiary shells with seven pots using

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4284-619: The US appears to have ceased its manufacture early in the war, presumably based on the experience of other combatants. A new British streamlined shrapnel shell, Mk 3D, had been developed for BL 60 pounder gun in the early 1930s, containing 760 bullets. There was some use of shrapnel by the British in the campaigns in East and North East Africa at the beginning of the war, where 18-pdr and 4.5-in (114 mm) howitzers were used. By World War II shrapnel shells, in

4386-446: The amount of ammunition required per yard of wire frontage. The use of shrapnel for wire-cutting was also highlighted in RA "Training Memoranda No. 2 1939". Shrapnel provided a useful "screening" effect from the smoke of the black-powder bursting charges when the British used it in "creeping barrages". One of the key factors that contributed to the heavy casualties sustained by the British at

4488-443: The arms they used developed together, starting with the spear and the shield. A spear has decent attack abilities with the additional advantage keeping opponents at distance; this advantage can be increased by using longer spears, but this could allow the opponent to side-step the point of the spear and close for hand-to-hand combat where the longer spear is near useless. This can be avoided when each spearman stays side by side with

4590-419: The assumed energy required to disable a man. For larger guns which had lower velocities, correspondingly larger balls were used so that each individual ball carried enough energy to be lethal. Most engagements using guns in this size range used direct fire at enemy from 1,500 yards (1,400 m) to 3,000 yards (2,700 m) distant, at which ranges the residual shell velocity was correspondingly higher, as in

4692-418: The bore or at the muzzle, giving the effect of an oversized shotgun shell . At ranges of up to 300 m canister shot was still highly lethal, though at this range the shots’ density was much lower, making a hit on a human body less likely. At longer ranges, solid shot or the common shell—a hollow cast-iron sphere filled with black powder —was used, although with more of a concussive than a fragmentation effect, as

4794-450: The bullets from the bursting charge , which proved successful and was adopted the following year. As a buffer to prevent lead shot deforming, a resin was used as a packing material between the shot. A useful side effect of using the resin was that the combustion also gave a visual reference upon the shell bursting, as the resin shattered into a cloud of dust. It took until 1803 for the British artillery to adopt (albeit with great enthusiasm)

4896-409: The bursting charge separated the bullets from the shell casing by firing the case forward and at the same time slowing the bullets down as they were ejected through the base of the shell casing, rather than increasing their velocity. Britain adopted this solution for several smaller calibres (below 6-inch) but by World War I few if any such shells remained. The final shrapnel shell design, adopted in

4998-411: The carrying burden is spread across several infantrymen. In all, this can reach 25–45 kg (60–100 lb) for each soldier on the march. Such heavy infantry burdens have changed little over centuries of warfare; in the late Roman Republic, legionaries were nicknamed " Marius' mules " as their main activity seemed to be carrying the weight of their legion around on their backs, a practice that predates

5100-417: The correct fuse running time (length) corrected for muzzle velocity. With the advent of relatively insensitive high explosives which could be used as the filling for shells, it was found that the casing of a properly designed high-explosive shell fragmented effectively . For example, the detonation of an average 105 mm shell produces several thousand high-velocity (1,000 to 1,500 m/s) fragments,

5202-430: The correct fuse running time was critical in order to burst the shell in the right place. This required considerable skill by the observation officer when engaging moving targets. An added complication was that the actual fuse running time was affected by the meteorological conditions, with the variation in gun muzzle velocity being an added complication. However, the British used fuse indicators at each gun that determined

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5304-463: The distinction between mechanised infantry and armour forces has blurred. The first military forces in history were infantry. In antiquity , infantry were armed with early melee weapons such as a spear , axe , or sword , or an early ranged weapon like a javelin , sling , or bow , with a few infantrymen being expected to use both a melee and a ranged weapon. With the development of gunpowder , infantry began converting to primarily firearms . By

5406-455: The enemy to prepare for the main forces' battlefield attack, protecting them from flanking manoeuvers , and then afterwards either pursuing the fleeing enemy or covering their army's retreat. After the fall of Rome, the quality of heavy infantry declined, and warfare was dominated by heavy cavalry , such as knights , forming small elite units for decisive shock combat , supported by peasant infantry militias and assorted light infantry from

5508-442: The eponymous Gaius Marius . When combat is expected, infantry typically switch to "packing light", meaning reducing their equipment to weapons, ammunition, and other basic essentials, and leaving other items deemed unnecessary with their transport or baggage train , at camp or rally point, in temporary hidden caches, or even (in emergencies) simply discarding the items. Additional specialised equipment may be required, depending on

5610-699: The estimated altitude of the target. During World War II a " proximity fuze " was developed for antiaircraft use, controlled by a Doppler radar device within the shell that caused it to explode when near the target. The idea was later adapted for use against ground targets. During the Vietnam War , air bursting shells were used to great affect to defend bases. This tactic was known as "Killer Junior" when referring to 105 mm (4.1 in) or 155 mm (6.1 in) shells, and "Killer Senior" when employed with larger howitzers . Some anti-personnel bounding mines such as Germany's World War II " Bouncing Betty " fire

5712-400: The existence of any organised military, likely started essentially as loose groups without any organisation or formation. But this changed sometime before recorded history ; the first ancient empires (2500–1500 BC) are shown to have some soldiers with standardised military equipment, and the training and discipline required for battlefield formations and manoeuvres: regular infantry . Though

5814-434: The expected duration of time operating away from their unit's base, plus any special mission-specific equipment. One of the most valuable pieces of gear is the entrenching tool —basically a folding spade —which can be employed not only to dig important defences, but also in a variety of other daily tasks, and even sometimes as a weapon. Infantry typically have shared equipment on top of this, like tents or heavy weapons, where

5916-604: The favoured weapon of the British (at least) to support their infantry assaults by suppressing the enemy infantry and preventing them from manning their trench parapets. This was called 'neutralization' and by the second half of 1915 had become the primary task of artillery supporting an attack. Shrapnel was less hazardous to the assaulting British infantry than high-explosives – as long as their own shrapnel burst above or ahead of them, attackers were safe from its effects, whereas high-explosive shells bursting short are potentially lethal within 100 yards or more in any direction. Shrapnel

6018-681: The flat trajectories might not clear the firers' own parapets, and fuses could not be set for less than 1,000 yards. The guns had to be overhauled by artificers and carefully calibrated. Furthermore, they needed good platforms with trail and wheels anchored with sandbags, and an observing officer had to monitor the effects on the wire continuously and make any necessary adjustments to range and fuse settings. These instructions were repeated in "GHQ Artillery Notes No. 3 Artillery in Offensive Operations", issued in February 1917 with added detail including

6120-496: The floor of the trench... a shrapnel bullet had hit my helmet with great violence, without piercing it, but sufficiently hard to dent it. If I had, as had been usual up until a few days previously, been wearing a cap, then the Regiment would have had one more man killed. A shrapnel shell was more expensive than a high-explosive one and required higher-grade steel for the shell body. They were also harder to use correctly because getting

6222-416: The force of the powder charge without shattering so that the bullets were fired forward out of the shell case with increased velocity, much like a shotgun. The design came to be adopted by all countries and was in standard use when World War I began in 1914. During the 1880s, when both the old cast-iron and modern forged-steel shrapnel shell designs were in British service, British ordnance manuals referred to

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6324-502: The fragments produced by a blast-frag warhead cannot guarantee penetration of the RV's casing. By using rod-like sub-projectiles, a much greater thickness of material can be penetrated, greatly increasing the potential for disruption of the incoming RV. The Starstreak missile uses a similar system, with three metal darts splitting from the missile prior to impact, although in the case of Starstreak these darts are guided and contain an explosive charge. Infantry Infantry

6426-517: The ground as it was hoped U.S. troops would soon occupy the city ". Some nuclear weapons have a contact preclusion fuzing feature to prevent the backup contact fuze from detonating the weapon if the air burst fuzing fails. In conventional warfare, air bursts are used primarily against infantry in the open or unarmored targets, as the resulting fragments cover a large area but will not penetrate armor or field fortifications. In nuclear warfare , air bursts are used against soft targets (i.e. lacking

6528-429: The hardened construction required to survive overpressure from a nuclear explosion) such as cities in countervalue targeting, or airfields, radar systems and mobile ICBMs in counterforce targeting. Killer Junior and Killer Senior are techniques of employing artillery direct fire air bursts, first developed during the Vietnam War . The technique involves a howitzer firing a high explosive (HE) shell using

6630-889: The individual – weapons using personal strength and force, such as larger swinging swords, axes, and clubs. These take more room and individual freedom to swing and wield, necessitating a more loose organisation. While this may allow for a fierce running attack (an initial shock advantage) the tighter formation of the heavy spear and shield infantry gave them a local manpower advantage where several might be able to fight each opponent. Thus tight formations heightened advantages of heavy arms, and gave greater local numbers in melee. To also increase their staying power, multiple rows of heavy infantrymen were added. This also increased their shock combat effect; individual opponents saw themselves literally lined-up against several heavy infantryman each, with seemingly no chance of defeating all of them. Heavy infantry developed into huge solid block formations, up to

6732-422: The introduction of special troops (first of them the engineers going back to medieval times, but also different kinds of infantry adopted to specific terrain, bicycle, motorcycle, motorised and mechanised troops) culminating with the introduction of highly trained special forces during the first and second World War. Naval infantry, commonly known as marines , are primarily a category of infantry that form part of

6834-413: The largest possible number with a single burst. When infantry moved into deep trenches, shrapnel shells were rendered useless, and high-explosive shells were used to attack field fortifications and troops in the open. The time fuses for the shells could be set to function on contact or in the air, or at a certain time after contact. Early anti-aircraft warfare used time fuses to function when they reached

6936-418: The lifts were typically 4 minutes apart. Lifting meant that time fuses settings had to be changed. The attackers tried to keep as close as possible (as little as 25 yards sometimes) to the bursting shrapnel so as to be on top of the enemy trenches when fire lifted beyond them, and before the enemy could get back to their parapets. While shrapnel made no impression on trenches and other earthworks, it remained

7038-707: The lower classes. Towards the end of Middle Ages, this began to change, where more professional and better trained light infantry could be effective against knights, such as the English longbowmen in the Hundred Years' War . By the start of the Renaissance , the infantry began to return to a larger role, with Swiss pikemen and German Landsknechts filling the role of heavy infantry again, using dense formations of pikes to drive off any cavalry. Dense formations are vulnerable to ranged weapons. Technological developments allowed

7140-417: The main enemy lines, using weight of numbers to achieve a decisive victory , and were usually equipped with heavier weapons and armour to fit their role. Light infantry, such as Greek peltasts , Balearic slingers , and Roman velites , using open formations and greater manoeuvrability, took on most other combat roles: scouting , screening the army on the march, skirmishing to delay, disrupt, or weaken

7242-447: The main force of the army, these forces were usually kept small due to their cost of training and upkeep, and might be supplemented by local short-term mass-conscript forces using the older irregular infantry weapons and tactics; this remained a common practice almost up to modern times. Before the adoption of the chariot to create the first mobile fighting forces c.  2000 BC , all armies were pure infantry. Even after, with

7344-487: The mid 17th century began replacement of the pike with the infantry square replacing the pike square. To maximise their firepower, musketeer infantry were trained to fight in wide lines facing the enemy, creating line infantry . These fulfilled the central battlefield role of earlier heavy infantry, using ranged weapons instead of melee weapons. To support these lines, smaller infantry formations using dispersed skirmish lines were created, called light infantry, fulfilling

7446-595: The mission or to the particular terrain or environment, including satchel charges , demolition tools, mines , or barbed wire , carried by the infantry or attached specialists. Historically, infantry have suffered high casualty rates from disease , exposure, exhaustion and privation — often in excess of the casualties suffered from enemy attacks. Better infantry equipment to support their health, energy, and protect from environmental factors greatly reduces these rates of loss, and increase their level of effective action. Health, energy, and morale are greatly influenced by how

7548-468: The more common blast-fragmentation types. As with a blast-frag warhead, the use of this type of warhead does not require a direct body-on-body impact, so greatly reduces tracking and steering accuracy requirements. At a predetermined distance from the incoming re-entry vehicle (RV) the warhead releases, in the case of the ABM warhead by an explosive expulsion charge, an array of mainly rod-like sub-projectiles into

7650-474: The need for a central tube, but that was not technically feasible because of the need for manually adjust the fuse before firing and was in any case rejected from an early date by the British because of risk of premature ignition and irregular action. The size of shrapnel balls in World War I was based on two considerations. One was the premise that a projectile energy of about 60 foot-pounds force (81  J )

7752-412: The older cast-iron design as "Boxer shrapnel", apparently to differentiate it from the modern steel design. The modern thin-walled forged-steel design made feasible shrapnel shells for howitzers, which had a much lower velocity than field guns, by using a larger gunpowder charge to accelerate the bullets forward on bursting. The ideal shrapnel design would have had a timer fuse in the shell base to avoid

7854-470: The original meaning. In 1784, Lieutenant Shrapnel of the Royal Artillery began developing an anti-personnel weapon . At the time, artillery could use " canister shot " to defend themselves from infantry or cavalry attack, which involved loading a tin or canvas container filled with small iron or lead balls instead of the usual cannonball . When fired, the container burst open during passage through

7956-400: The others in close formation, each covering the ones next to him, presenting a solid wall of spears to the enemy that they cannot get around. Similarly, a shield has decent defence abilities, but is literally hit-or-miss; an attack from an unexpected angle can bypass it completely. Larger shields can cover more, but are also heavier and less manoeuvrable, making unexpected attacks even more of

8058-400: The pieces of the shell were very large and sparse in number. Shrapnel's innovation was to combine the multi-projectile shotgun effect of canister shot, with a time fuse (“fuze” rather than “fuse” is more accurate terminology for a device that initiates an explosive) to open the canister and disperse the shot it contained at some distance along the canister's trajectory from the gun. His shell

8160-408: The point of burst in an ever-widening cone along the projectile's previous trajectory prior to bursting. The round was complex to make, but is a highly effective anti-personnel weapon – soldiers reported that after beehive rounds were fired during an overrun attack, many enemy dead had their hands nailed to the wooden stocks of their rifles, and these dead could be dragged to mass graves by the rifle. It

8262-458: The raising of large numbers of light infantry units armed with ranged weapons, without the years of training expected for traditional high-skilled archers and slingers. This started slowly, first with crossbowmen , then hand cannoneers and arquebusiers , each with increasing effectiveness, marking the beginning of early modern warfare , when firearms rendered the use of heavy infantry obsolete. The introduction of musketeers using bayonets in

8364-1041: The same multiple roles as earlier light infantry. Their arms were no lighter than line infantry; they were distinguished by their skirmish formation and flexible tactics. The modern rifleman infantry became the primary force for taking and holding ground on battlefields as an element of combined arms . As firepower continued to increase, use of infantry lines diminished, until all infantry became light infantry in practice. Modern classifications of infantry have since expanded to reflect modern equipment and tactics, such as motorised infantry , mechanised or armoured infantry , mountain infantry , marine infantry , and airborne infantry . Beyond main arms and armour, an infantryman's "military kit" generally includes combat boots , battledress or combat uniform , camping gear , heavy weather gear, survival gear , secondary weapons and ammunition , weapon service and repair kits, health and hygiene items, mess kit , rations , filled water canteen , and all other consumables each infantryman needs for

8466-585: The shrapnel shell (as "spherical case"). Henry Shrapnel was promoted to major in the same year. The first recorded use of shrapnel by the British was in 1804 against the Dutch at Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam in Suriname . The Duke of Wellington 's armies used it from 1808 in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo , and he wrote admiringly of its effectiveness. The design was improved by Captain E. M. Boxer of

8568-496: The shrapnel shell as a whole would likely have a higher ballistic coefficient than the individual musket balls (see external ballistics ). The explosive charge in the shell was to be just enough to break the casing rather than scatter the shot in all directions. As such his invention increased the effective range of canister shot from 300 metres (980 ft) to about 1,100 metres (3,600 ft). He called his device 'spherical case shot', but in time it came to be called after him;

8670-723: The soldier is fed, so militaries issue standardised field rations that provide palatable meals and enough calories to keep a soldier well-fed and combat-ready. Communications gear has become a necessity, as it allows effective command of infantry units over greater distances, and communication with artillery and other support units. Modern infantry can have GPS , encrypted individual communications equipment, surveillance and night vision equipment, advanced intelligence and other high-tech mission-unique aids. Armies have sought to improve and standardise infantry gear to reduce fatigue for extended carrying, increase freedom of movement, accessibility, and compatibility with other carried gear, such as

8772-530: The strict sense of the word, fell out of use, the last recorded use of shrapnel being 60 pdr shells fired in Burma in 1943. In 1945 the British conducted successful trials with shrapnel shells fused with VT . However, shrapnel was not developed as munitions for any new British artillery models after World War I. Although not strictly shrapnel, a 1960s weapons project produced splintex shells for 90 and 106 mm recoilless rifles and 105 mm howitzers , where it

8874-770: The table – at least in the earlier stages of World War 1. The other factor was the trajectory. The shrapnel bullets were typically lethal for about 300 yards (270 m) from normal field guns after bursting and over 400 yards (370 m) from heavy field guns. To make maximum use of these distances a flat-trajectory and hence high-velocity gun was required. The pattern in Europe was that the armies with higher-velocity guns tended to use heavier bullets because they could afford to have fewer bullets per shell. The important points to note about shrapnel shells and bullets in their final stage of development in World War I are: A firsthand description of successful British deployment of shrapnel in

8976-471: The term Killer Senior applied to its use with the M115 203 mm (8.0 in) howitzer . The term "Killer" came from the call-sign of the battery which developed the technique. The technique was later perfected by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Dean, commander of the 1st Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment , of the 25th Infantry Division Artillery. Killers Junior and Senior were developed as alternatives to

9078-464: The time of Napoleonic warfare , infantry, cavalry and artillery formed a basic triad of ground forces, though infantry usually remained the most numerous. With armoured warfare , armoured fighting vehicles have replaced the horses of cavalry, and airpower has added a new dimension to ground combat, but infantry remains pivotal to all modern combined arms operations. The first warriors, adopting hunting weapons or improvised melee weapons, before

9180-445: The time of the musket, the dominance of firepower shifted militaries away from any close combat, and use of armour decreased, until infantry typically went without wearing any armour. Helmets were added back during World War I as artillery began to dominate the battlefield, to protect against their fragmentation and other blast effects beyond a direct hit. Modern developments in bullet-proof composite materials like kevlar have started

9282-526: The tribal host assembled from farmers and hunters with only passing acquaintance with warfare and masses of lightly armed and ill-trained militia put up as a last ditch effort. Kushite king Taharqa enjoyed military success in the Near East as a result of his efforts to strengthen the army through daily training in long-distance running. In medieval times the foot soldiers varied from peasant levies to semi-permanent companies of mercenaries, foremost among them

9384-401: The tube through the centre similarly reduced available space for bullets. In the 1870s, William Armstrong provided a design with the bursting charge in the head and the shell wall made of steel and hence much thinner than previous cast-iron shrapnel shell walls. While the thinner shell wall and absence of a central tube allowed the shell to carry far more bullets, it had the disadvantage that

9486-596: The weapon speciality; examples of infantry units that retained such names are the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Grenadier Guards . Dragoons were created as mounted infantry , with horses for travel between battles; they were still considered infantry since they dismounted before combat. However, if light cavalry was lacking in an army, any available dragoons might be assigned their duties; this practice increased over time, and dragoons eventually received all

9588-452: The weapons and training as both infantry and cavalry, and could be classified as both. Conversely, starting about the mid-19th century, regular cavalry have been forced to spend more of their time dismounted in combat due to the ever-increasing effectiveness of enemy infantry firearms. Thus most cavalry transitioned to mounted infantry. As with grenadiers, the dragoon and cavalry designations can be retained long after their horses, such as in

9690-451: Was a hollow cast-iron sphere filled with a mixture of balls (“shot”) and powder, with a crude time fuze. If the fuze was set correctly then the shell would break open, either in front of or above the intended human objective, releasing its contents (of musket balls). The shrapnel balls would carry on with the "remaining velocity" of the shell. In addition to a denser pattern of musket balls, the retained velocity could be higher as well, since

9792-447: Was also useful against counter-attacks, working parties and any other troops in the open. British Expeditionary Force "GHQ Artillery Notes No. 5 Wire-cutting" was issued in June 1916. It prescribed the use of shrapnel for wirecutting, with HE used to scatter the posts and wire when cut. However, there were constraints: the best ranges for 18-pdrs were 1,800–2,400 yards. Shorter ranges meant

9894-414: Was called a " beehive " round. Unlike the shrapnel shells’ balls, the splintex shells contained flechettes . The result was the 105 mm M546 APERS-T (anti-personnel-tracer) round, first used in the Vietnam War in 1966. The shell consisted of approximately 8,000 one-half-gram flechettes arranged in five tiers, a time fuse, body-shearing detonators, a central flash tube, a smokeless propellant charge with

9996-540: Was extremely low. The bullets also had limited destructive effect and were stopped by sandbags, so troops behind protection or in bunkers were generally safe. Additionally, steel helmets, including both the German Stahlhelm and the British Brodie helmet , could resist shrapnel bullets and protect the wearer from head injury: ... suddenly, with a great clanging thud, I was hit on the forehead and knocked flying onto

10098-564: Was not coined until 1837. In modern usage, foot soldiers of any era are now considered infantry and infantrymen. From the mid-18th century until 1881, the British Army named its infantry as numbered regiments "of Foot" to distinguish them from cavalry and dragoon regiments (see List of Regiments of Foot ). Infantry equipped with special weapons were often named after that weapon, such as grenadiers for their grenades , or fusiliers for their fusils . These names can persist long after

10200-399: Was not common), similar to modern sections (squads) , companies , and regiments . The training of the infantry has differed drastically over time and from place to place. The cost of maintaining an army in fighting order and the seasonal nature of warfare precluded large permanent armies. The antiquity saw everything from the well-trained and motivated citizen armies of Greece and Rome,

10302-418: Was required to disable an enemy soldier. A typical World War I 3-inch (76 mm) field gun shell at its maximum possible range traveling at a velocity of 250 feet/second, plus the additional velocity from the shrapnel bursting charge (about 150 feet per second), would give individual shrapnel bullets a velocity of 400 feet per second and an energy of 60 foot-pounds (81 joules ): this was the minimum energy of

10404-454: Was widely used by all sides as an anti-personnel weapon. It was the only type of shell available for British field guns ( 13-pounder , 15 pounder and 18-pounder ) until October 1914. Shrapnel was effective against troops in the open, particularly massed infantry (advancing or withdrawing). However, the onset of trench warfare from late 1914 led to most armies decreasing their use of shrapnel in favour of high-explosive. Britain continued to use

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